


Songs of Life Day

by LieselSolo



Series: A Healing Force [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Deserved Better, Ben Solo Lives, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Han Solo Lives, Holidays, Leia Organa Lives, Life Day (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28245930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LieselSolo/pseuds/LieselSolo
Summary: In a universe where Ben Solo never turned to the dark side, he and his family visit Kashyyyk for Life Day.
Relationships: Ben Solo & Han Solo, Ben Solo/Original Female Character(s), Leia Organa & Ben Solo, Leia Organa & Ben Solo & Han Solo, Leia Organa/Han Solo
Series: A Healing Force [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843372
Kudos: 3





	Songs of Life Day

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Star Wars. This takes place in the AU that I share with my friend RensKnight, in which Ben never turns to the dark side and has a family instead. Ben is married to my OC Ara, who's a non-Force-sensitive mechanic, and they have a daughter named Hanna.

Ben stepped out onto the balcony of Chewie’s house and inhaled the fresh Kashyyyk air that smelled of moisture and various plant life. Ever since he was little, the smell of Kashyyyk energized him. On Coruscant, the only plant life was to be found in greenhouses and plant shops, always carefully watched for people to use, but here the Wookiees lived in harmony with the wilderness.

“Daddy! Happy Life Day!”

A large grin dug unto Ben’s cheeks as his four-year-old daughter Hanna came running up to him, her black curls bouncing on her pink nightgown. “Hey kiddo!” he exclaimed, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her little freckled cheek. “You’re up early.”

“Yeah,” said Hanna. “Cause it’s Life Day.”

Ben kissed his daughter again – this would be Hanna’s first Life Day since it wasn’t a holiday celebrated in most of the galaxy and it had been a few years since the Solo family had been able to come to Kashyyyk for Life Day.

“Can I wake Mommy up?” Hanna asked, her grin pushing little dimples into her pudgy cheeks.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think Mommy might want to sleep a little longer.”

“Okay, can I wake up Grandma and Grandpa?”

Ben snickered. “No, I think they want to sleep too.”

The girl pouted. “Why’s everybody wanna sleep?”

“Because it’s early in the morning, sweetheart.”

“So?”

Ben snickered again. “Hanna, most grownups like to sleep late in the morning when they don’t have anything they need to do.”

“Den how come _you_ not sleepin?”

“Because I couldn’t sleep. This place brings back memories of when I was a kid like you.”

The child’s mouth twisted as she looked out at the forest. “Daddy, how come dere aren’t trees at home?”

Ben’s mouth twisted back at her – he didn’t actually _know_ why there were no trees on Coruscant, just that the city had overtaken any forms of nature the planet had centuries ago. “Because there’s too much city for forests on Coruscant. The trees and buildings had a fight and the buildings won.”

Hanna giggled, showing off her little toothy grin.

“What’s this I’m hearing about Mommy wanting to sleep late?”

Both father and daughter turned to see Ben’s wife Ara making her way onto the balcony in her dark blue robe, her black hair mussed.

“Mommy!” shouted Hanna, reaching out her arms towards her mother.

“Hey, sweetheart,” said Ara, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her forehead before kissing her daughter’s cheek. “Are you ready for your first Life Day?”

“Yeah,” said Hanna, kissing the tip of her mother’s nose. “When can we see Uncle Chewie?”

“Not until after _I_ get a kiss from Mommy too,” said Ben.

“Oh, is Daddy jealous?” Ara asked with a snicker.

Hanna giggled back. “Yeah, he is.”

Ben wasn’t sure if his daughter actually knew what the word “jealous” meant, but he graciously accepted a kiss from his wife to placate his “jealously.”

“Okay,” said Hanna, “ _now_ can we see Uncle Chewie?”

Uncle Chewie. Ben remembered how he once called his father’s Wookiee friend by that same name, though as he grew up he’d dropped the habit. Chewie was probably thrilled to be called Uncle Chewie once again.

. . .

Hanna spent practically the whole day helping Chewie set up for the nighttime celebration, which gave Ben time to go strolling around the trees’ catwalks with his parents. He didn’t get much time alone with his parents these days – work and family took up most of his time – so he was relishing this afternoon. He leaned over one of the railings, gazing out into the forest and at the beach in the distance. The water brushing against the sand reminded him of running up and down the beach as a child, giggling when the salt water lapped his legs.

“How old was I the first time we came here?” he found himself asking.

Leia joined him at the rail, the wind blowing little strands of graying hair out of her braids. “Technically, you were in utero the _first_ time we all came here as a family, but I think you were Hanna’s age the first time you came here out of utero.” She clasped her hands on the rail. “We thought you would be nervous around so many huge Wookiees, but no, you went running up to them and they fussed over you and thought you were so adorable.”

“I think Hanna’s enjoying similar attention right now,” said Ben.

“Probably,” said Han, patting his son on the shoulder. “Do you remember any of it?”

Ben squinted out at the beach. He remembered coming to Kashyyyk many times as a child, of course, but did he remember that _first_ visit? “I think . . . maybe I remember Mom singing?”

That immediately brought a grimace to Leia’s face. “Okay, yes, I did that a few times, but I’m _not_ doing it tonight.”

“Oh, why not?” asked Han, playfully kissing his wife’s cheek. “I’m sure you could get those pipes working if you tried.”

Leia gave a humorless snicker, brushing her thumb over Han’s chin. “No, no, not happening. My voice isn’t what it used to be – and it wasn’t even great in the first place.”

Indeed, Ben didn’t remember his mother’s singing voice ever being “great,” but he remembered it being comforting – not just here, but at home too. The whole family would sing together to kids songs, his parents would sing him lullabies, and his mom would sing along to Fete songs every year. Sure, her voice was often flat, but it still soothed his child self and made him feel protected. “I think you _should_ sing,” he said. “Hanna would like it.”

Leia groaned. “Are you using my granddaughter to blackmail me into singing?”

“Maybe.”

. . .

That evening, the wroshyr trees were all aglow with lights and bonfires. Ben, Ara, Han, Leia, and Hanna sat with Chewie, who was decked in the traditional ceremonial red robe. At the table across from them, Luke and his daughter Rey were chatting with Chewie’s friend Sagwa, whom Chewie had helped escape from the spice mines of Kessel many years ago. When Ben was a child, he, Chewie, Sagwa, and Han used to act out that escape, which often ended in swarms of laughter.

In the center of the circular table arrangement, a chorus of red-robed Wookiees was singing various traditional Life Day songs. While Ben considered himself reasonably fluent in Shyriiwook thanks to having grown up with a Wookiee uncle around all the time, there were still some words in the songs he had difficulty making out. Still, he could understand the songs’ general themes about peace, love, and unity.

He was tempted to ask his mother to sing, but no, she had expressed that she didn’t want to sing and he wasn’t going to embarrass her. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother pick Hanna up and carry her behind one of the buildings. Ben found himself rising and following them – not that he didn’t trust his mother, of course, but he just wanted to see what they were doing. He found them seated on a bench outside one of the dwellings, Leia cuddling her granddaughter in her lap.

And Leia was singing.

She sang in a soft, raspy, motherly voice to Hanna, making the child give her little dimpled smile. Ben couldn’t say for certain, but his mother’s song sounded like the same song he thought he remembered in the fuzzy memories from his first Life Day here.

Ben smiled along with his daughter. While Leia’s days of singing in front of crowds were over, her music was still very much alive.

THE END


End file.
